Planning an inquiry unit

Plan an inquiry

Once you're familiar with the content presented in this toolkit, it's time to jump in and plan your first inquiry. Use:

• this unit template to plan the high level details of the inquiry

• the inquiry session planner for each chunk of time with your students.

1. Form an inquiry team and determine desired learning

Consider expertise across your school and wider community.

2. Develop essential questions to drive student inquiry

Look for authentic links across the curriculum and to the wider world.

3. Plan for assessment

Use formative assessment to drive learning, and ensure tasks are authentic.

4. Plan inquiry sessions

Meet with your inquiry team to plan inquiry sessions. Structure the inquiry using the three diamonds inquiry model designed for the Australian Curriculum.

Evaluate an inquiry unit

Not all inquiry units are created equal. You should consider the readiness of your students and what you're trying to achieve when evaluating the quality of an existing unit, or critiquing your own unit with peers to make improvements.

Use this set of evaluation rubrics to evaluate an inquiry unit based on:

• types of learning addressed - the general capabilities learning continuum will help you to make adjustments based on student readiness and the goals of your inquiry. Read about types of learning here.

• levels of inquiry - consider the level of guidance each student needs and how the unit allows you to adjust this. Read about levels of inquiry here.

• questioning frameworks - how can you use questions to support student inquiry and metacognition? Read about questioning frameworks here.

• information literacy perspectives - how will information be viewed and evaluated? Read about information literacy perspectives here.